1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a word listing system and particularly a spelling dictionary and character list arrangement.
2. Description of the Prior Art
All presently known dictionaries used for looking up the spelling of a word and/or the definition of a word are arranged alphabetically commencing with the first letter of the word and that word appears only once in the dictionary. Heretofore, the first letter of the word has been the key. As an illustration "atom" is listed under "a" but only once in the dictionary. Traditional dictionaries are still necessary and of course serve a useful purpose. However, there are situations such as encountered by cross-word puzzle users where there may be several spaces and two or more letters are juxtaposed without the initial letter or other help for the word. In such a situation a regular dictionary is not helpful or useful.
In addition, if a person is merely interested in looking up the spelling of a word and is unsure of internal letters or letter arrangements in the word for the correct spelling the conventional dictionary is not very helpful. While the word and correct spelling may eventually be located valuable time is wasted in the traditional hunting method.
Applicant is only aware of one device that can be used to assist a person in working a cross word puzzle and that is a word forming device described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,848,824 issued to J. W. Donaldson on Aug. 26, 1958. This patent however has shortcomings as it requires moving rods with the alphabet on them up and down to register in openings. The problem with this device is that it is not truly geared for use with crossword puzzles and utilizes a "hit or miss" technique.